


Separating Weird and Beautiful

by livinginnightvale (cloudsgrl)



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Aquariums, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-31
Updated: 2014-07-31
Packaged: 2018-02-11 04:24:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2053485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudsgrl/pseuds/livinginnightvale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"carlosmanofscienza:</p><p>//you know all those Night Vale mermaid/sea creature AUs? </p><p>what if Cecil works at a strange aquarium as the tour guide and one day there’s a new tank and it has mermaid with perfect hair.</p><p>and said mermaid likes to watch the tourists like he’s studying them, but he is most active when Cecil walks by."</p><p>Now going to be a series of things, as carlosmanofscienza keeps making posts about it and giving me ideas</p>
            </blockquote>





	Separating Weird and Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

  * For [carlosmanofscienza on tumblr](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=carlosmanofscienza+on+tumblr).



Night Vale Aquarium was rather large and vast despite the hundreds of thousands of gallons of water it cost to set up and maintain in the middle of a desert. It took even more money to obtain the aquatic life and get it to the proper set up. Night Vale Aquarium was a giant money trap and the entire town knew it, but that did not stop the townsfolk visiting on varying days, or people from working there with glee.

Cecil Gershwin Palmer was one of those people in particular. He took great wondrous pride in showcasing the aquatic plant and animal life to those not in the know. It put some strain on his voice when he had to speak over groups of numerous children multiple times a week, but he loved it. Sharing knowledge with people was amazing, and if he couldn’t talk for a couple days, that was okay too. Plus the aquarium was the coolest place in Night Vale, and that helped on the hot summer days.

It was a couple years into working at the aquarium, long enough that Cecil didn’t really have to plan or anticipate his tours anymore when a new tank was being added to the complex maze within the building. Every day Cecil walked past the tank hidden by tarps and flattened cardboard boxes and wondered what would reside behind the reinforced glass.

And he got the notice, from management. They had a real life mermaid in the tank! The mermaid came without a fight, and seemed to understand what the transporters had asked of the mermaid, but now demanded alone time while it set up the tank for it’s own comfort. Cecil couldn’t help but squeal. How magical and intriguing! A mythical sea creature actually existed, and could communicate, and actually wanted to be in the aquarium. In an aquarium in the middle of the desert even!

Cecil couldn’t wait to see the mermaid with his own eyes.

The day of the tank’s reveal came and Cecil found himself staring right outside of the boundaries as officials removed the tarps and boxes, revealing a beautifully elaborate tank, with far more aquatic life than the others. And sitting, if a mermaid (or was it a merman?) could sit, was a merman with dark caramel skin, and was that a betta fish tail? A beautiful gold betta tail it was! Was the merman part betta? Cecil didn’t have much time to determine the implications of such a thing when he saw it.

Flowing around the merman’s perfect jaw - and was that a smile with teeth like a military cemetery? – was an inky mass of hair. It coiled and curled and stretched as the currant of the tank pulled upon it. It was beautiful and perfect and Cecil felt his heart drop in awe. As a whole, the merman was gorgeous.

And intelligent. He surveyed the gathered crowd with curious eyes, long fingers drumming on the rock below him. Cecil watched him long after the main crowd left, long after the merman moved to swimming around his tank, occasionally flaring his fins wide when something startled him.

Cecil watched until the aquarium was closing, and returned the next day to actually work, guiding the children and some parents to the new feature. Everyone would approach the tank and stare in awe as the merman appeared to write things down on a piece of kelp with what looked like some sort of paste. Cecil and the children watched and marveled. Sometimes, the merman would notice that Cecil and his group were surveying, and would do a quick tour around the tank. He’d swim around different structures, and between some plants. Sometimes he’d hold up the things he wrote and a curious look would appear on his plump lips when the children chattered but didn’t respond directly. He’d then make eye contact with Cecil, start to flare, and then turned away.

The merman obviously didn’t care to see Cecil, but Cecil couldn’t stop watching. The merman was mesmerizing in the way he’d observe the crowds, make notes, and then try to communicate with them. Cecil wondered if he couldn’t speak, or maybe his vocal chords didn’t work with common speech. But somehow he managed to communicate with the handlers before, and somehow he was content with his situation.

The hype of the gorgeous merman died down, and Cecil was back to touring every now and then. The merman had thrown himself into writing whatever it was he did and glancing out of the tank as though looking for someone. It took Cecil three weeks to gain the courage to approach the tank without a group of children clamoring behind him. It took him three weeks to meet the merman’s gaze and breathe heavily on the cool tank’s glass and write his name backwards for the merman to read.

He darted close to the glass and surveyed the fading letters with curiosity before making some gestures. Cecil did it again, and the merman grabbed his writing supplies and copied it down. The two met gazes again, and the merman smiled his perfect smile. At this close proximity, Cecil could see a touch of silvery gray at the merman’s temples. Cecil wrote his name once more, put his hand to his chest and said, “Cecil.”

The merman wrote furiously on his ‘paper’ and held up a series of what looked like runes, and placed a webbed hand to his chest. “Kahrloss.”

And Cecil fell in love instantly.

**Author's Note:**

> Carlos's betta coloring is like this: http://media-cache-cd0.pinimg.com/236x/29/b7/46/29b7465eede3fedebe564064ea6faf00.jpg


End file.
